Defining quality in training institutions.

The views of nurse and midwife teachers occupy a crucial role in discussions about the quality of educational provision. So far, however, little information has been available on what the members of the profession think about this issue. In the course of a two-year research project commissioned by the ENB on performance indicators for training institutions, we asked teachers and their colleagues in all the English NHS regions to describe the characteristics of a high standard school. The study was conducted in the spring of 1988, that is, following the clinical grading review and the initiative to amalgamate school but before the NHS review and the acceptance of Project 2000. The data provided are an account of what is valued in schools of nursing and midwifery, for which a high degree of consensus was found among respondents. Management issues emerged as the top concern, followed by resources. Curriculum issues ranked third, closely followed by service links and professional/teacher issues. External links were of low importance.